Yuku free message boards

Brian's Notes:

Overall - much tighter editing (might loosen up as the time goes on and teams get eliminated) but this also gave the show a more frenetic feel. I get the feeling that this might actually be the first season where the producers "get" that the race is as important, if not more important, than the relationships!

The video quality was very good (watching on HDTV with rabbit ears) even though it was just SD-digital quality. I'm thinking that they might have improved their cameras; perhaps even recording HD but broadcasting in SD because they may have HD cameras at the beginning and in Europe, but third-world cameramen might not have HD gear, and they need it to match.

--------------

Starting with the teams being transported rather than with Phil - a small change but a subtle one, then Phil goes into his spiel.

Good, quick intros.

Okay, new titles. I like them, but mostly because they are new titles - more drums, more bass, chunky guitar. If the original theme seemed ripped from Gladiator, this one seems ripped from Iron Man.

Here's a change that I think is long overdue. Rather than racing to the airport to get the first flight, the real question is: Which combination of flight-and-train will get you there the fastest? This wasn't just speed - it was navigational brains as well! I love it!

The split-up and train rides also allowed for seeing two countries for the price of one - and the split screen did work, in my opinion, to show the two teams racing.

Preston and Jennifer were shown to be the Bickersons for this race, establishing them as "heels" (in pro-wrestling terminology) while Margie & Luke were established as the "faces" - everyone else is too jumbled up, I think, to really establish themselves - it's an 11 team race with 45 minutes to show, so we'll get to know 'em better as time goes on.

One thing that I really liked was how quickly the race turned to the "equalizer" moment - that is, no matter how far ahead or behind you are, you're -really- fighting over 30 minutes - and everyone got to spend time together and mingle at the campsite. This is a great alternative to HOO bunching; and is pretty much the standard for the first leg.

Giving the teams only the picture of the dam as the clue is a throw-back to Season 1, when most of the clues were like that. I liked it.

Bungee Road Block: Been done, but never this early.

We see more split screen as early teams board trains and later teams still take on the Bungee Road Block. Additionally, the time jumps with the clock both cut out a lot of "we've seen it" bungee jump footage AND gives people an idea of what each placement actually means - each jump takes about 7 minutes, so teams are now 7 minutes apart.

I loved the "leaves early but arrives later" train.

What's there not to love about the cheese, except that the Virginians were the only ones who seemed to realize that you could turn the cheese into a sled. My sister (who is my partner for TAR 16 should Chris & I fail to get onto TAR 15) suggested that it might have been feasible to strap all 200 pounds of cheese on a sled, then use clothing to tie a leash, so you could drag it down the hill behind you, while remaining upright (the Virginians still had to push it down crawling.)

The laughing locals absolutely made this task; reality TV can't have a laugh track, this was the next best thing.

Using the yodelers to find the pitstop instead of having a local greeter might be a weird change, but I'm glad there was a "mini-task" involved in finding the pitstop.

Phil was in top form, signing the team placement number, as well as popping the eyebrow on request.

And Preston and Jennifer say goodbye, so we will hopefully have a full season without the Bickersons.

Don't get me wrong, they seem like nice people, but I just don't want to see people arguing on this show...

And those are my notes.